In Memory
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Sean Clerget was presented with a 2012 Burton Foundation Award for his article, ‘Timing is of the Essence: Reviving the Neutral Law of General Applicability Standard and Applying it to Restrictions Against Religious, Face Coverings Worn While Testifying in Court.’ Sean is a student at the George Mason University School Law and served as editor of the George Mason Law Review from 2011 to 2012.
10 Robert Fozkos participated in the 10th annual Valparaiso, IN, triathlon in July. He finished third overall, the top male in the 25 to 29 age range, using a borrowed bicycle. Robert currently coaches the Valpo Masters swim club.
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Michael Myers and Maggie Blaich were married August 4 in the Wabash Chapel. Maggie is the daughter of Louisa and Professor Charles Blaich, Director of the Center of Inquiry at Wabash. In the wedding were Jim Blaich ’14, Tom Blaich ’16, Matt Schenkel ’11, Neil Burk ’12, Drew Zromkoski ’11, Chris Sidebottom ’11, Billy Evans ’11, and Ricky Ritter ’11. Maggie graduated from Hope College in 2011.
12 Andrew Alexander’s brother, Adam, is a freshman at Wabash.
In Memory 38 Robert William Shortridge, 94, died October 5 in Prairie Village, KS. Born September 1, 1918, in Newport News, VA, he was the son of L.P. and Nell Shortridge. He majored in chemistry at Wabash and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. While he was at Wabash, he was a member of the Concert Band and was an independent. In 1943, he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Ohio State University and was elected to the Phi Lambda Upsilon and Sigma Xi honorary fraternities. After working as a research chemist at Monsanto Chemical Company in Dayton, OH, he joined the fledgling Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, MO, in October 1945, and, except for a stint at Commercial Solvents Corporation in Terre Haute, IN, continued to work at MRI until 1968. In that year, he was named director of the University of Missouri’s Technical Information Center, where he conducted science and engineering literature searches for the university’s business and industry specialists and for their clients throughout Missouri. He continued there until he retired in 1983. In retirement he worked as a technical information consultant, performing literature searches for various patent law firms, most notably that of Hovey, Williams, Timmons & Collins (later Hovey Williams LLP). Music and photography were his major avocation. With cameras—starting with the free Kodak Anniversary box camera he received at the age of 12 to the Nikon CoolPix digital that he got recently from his daughters—he captured beautiful images that document his life. He played clarinet in various orchestras and bands, including the Crawfordsville Symphony Orchestra during his college years, and in recent years with the Overland Park Civic Band. He sang for several years in the Johnson County Chorus and in the choir of the Village Presbyterian Church. He was preceded in death by his brother, John Shortridge ’50, and sister, Mary Jane Shortridge.
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He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Charlene Harris, 4409 West 78th Street, Prairie Village, KS 66208; daughters, Mary Jo Mensie, Susan Paul, Margot (Peggy) Shortridge, and Martha Bostick; and a sister, Marjorie Mason.
43 Robert W. Charni, 91, died December 9, 2011, in Alton, FL. Born May 21, 1920, in Brookville, IN, he was the son of Dorothy and Fred Charni. He attended Wabash for four semesters and was a member of Kappa Sigma. He retired in July 1967 as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, having served during World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. Following his Air Force retirement, he was employed as a civil engineer with the Florida Department of Transportation, retiring in 1985. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lila Charni, and brother, Fred Charni. He is survived by his niece, Donna Slotnick, and nephew, Keith Roden; and great-nieces and -nephews.
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Robert Adrian “Bob” Chapman, 86, died June 12 in Maple City, MI. Born December 5, 1925, in Highland Park, MI, he was the son of Marie and Clarence Chapman. In 1943, he enlisted in the Naval Reserves through the Navy V-12 College Training Program. After two years at Wabash College, he began midshipman school at Fort Schuyler in New York and aided in the ending of World War II as a first lieutenant supply officer at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Chapman returned to Wabash and later completed a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Detroit. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta while attending Wabash. Chapman resided in Minnesota where he developed adhesives, coatings, and sealers for 3M. Later he was vice president of product development at Plastomer Corporation in Livonia, MI.
This has been an isolated group of papers; few have paid attention to them, and they are hard to make known. Some scholars might not realize where they are and might bypass them. It makes sense to give the scholars one-stop shopping, where all the materials for their research are there in Springfield. —Roger Billings ’59, editor, Abraham Lincoln, Esq.: The Legal Career of America’s Greatest President, on the College’s gift of the Yates Papers to the Lincoln Library